General information

See the reviews from the live shows page to get
other people's opinions. Here's the original response:

Well, answers seem to vary. So this is just sort of a highlight
film of some comments from record reviews, personal feelings, and
comments from friends some who who like Primus and some who hate
them. Once again, feel free to contribute any personal favorites.

"thrash-funk" --lots of lame reviews

"They're unique, they're a square peg in a round hole. They're
totally new. Maybe that's what people were saying about us when we
came out" --Kirk Hammet, Guitar Player sep 91

"The only thing I can think to compare you to is a heavy King
Crimson." --Rikki Rachtman

"Oh yeah, we're a blatant rip-off of King Crimson"
--Les Claypool in response to above question

It is a picture of Skeeter, and the caption says "Skeeters suck
too". He also has a tattoo on his right shoulder (right below the
Skeeter one on his head) of the Cat in the Hat with a plate of Green
Eggs and Ham.

According to an article in Bass Player Magazine Les lost half of
his hearing in his right ear in a diving accident. Les say's "It
sucks- when I go to listen to studio playback through headphones I
think, what's the point?"

Herb's nickname is for many reasons. First, there was at least one
other Tim in Primate/Primus, Tim Wright. Also Herb has a fondness for
herbal remedies, and is quite a health nut, at least according to Les.

Les was a member of his high school Jazz band where he received at
least some formal training(reading sheet music). Ler was at one point
a student of Joe Satriani, about as close to apprenticing to a master
as you get in rock guitar.

Before Ler and Herb joined, fans of Primate/Primus would
follow around Les and the guys saying, "you guys are great".
Les would reply, "Nah, we suck". It caught on and the fans
started yelling "You Suck" at shows. Les would reply, "Why
Thank You". It caught on and the rest is history.

As far I know the last release as Primate was in 1984. Germ's
Choice featured a single by Primus in 1988. So sometime in
between 1984-1988, the tape _Sausage_ was released by the band
called Primus.
-Brady E. Gaughan
From: Michael Muc
I interviewed Herb today (I write for an Australian mag called Beat Magazine)
and he says that the name changed from Primate because there was another band
already called "The Primates". To avoid legal retribution, Les pulled out a
dictionary and found a close alternate.

rom:pjohn@westnet.westnet.com (Paul Johnston)
| Okay, okay, okay...this here is what we call a live simulcast post. I'm
| transcribing everything I can get out of the "Too Many Puppies" song I've
| taped, unscrewed, rewound, and fixed so that it's backwards.
|
| Sure is harder to hear Les this way...
|
| first that whisper...sounds like whoever it is says "Yeah, right!"
|
| After a while it sounds like Les sez: "these here hamsters, they is so alike"
|
| then there's a part where it sounds like just feedback (remember this is
| backwards) and it sounds like Les is talking on the phone. The vocals
| are pretty buried, but it does sound like he is saying something real.
| If you play Puppies the right way, it sounds weirder (could this be
| something Les actually planned on purpose?)
|
| Then it sounds a little like Les is yelling "please don't push us down!"
|
| Soon after it sounds like "yeah, they're just sheep"
|
| The intro (to the actual song, which is the ending to this) sounds
| *exactly* like the beginning of Hendrix's "Are You Experienced?"
|
| and that's it.

: In article 140t@hearst.cac.psu.edu, dmm219@psu.edu (Dave Miller) writes:
:
: >
: >It says 'el sobrente(sp?) number one'.
: >My motorhead friend tells me its some kind of racing term.
: >
: >-Dave
: Well, El Sobrante, CA is where Les and Ler are from. In "Jerry",
: he says
: "El Solo Number One", which might be a racing reference.
: Many times in concert, Les will bastardize that line in Jerry as
:"El *Sobrante*
: Number One".
From:rajiyer@red.seas.upenn.edu
I think he does say "El Sob". It sounds like "El Sob",
and "El Sob" makes sense. Admittedly, the handwriting in the CD
insert can be read as "El Solo", but I think the 'lo' is really a 'b'.
From: AIMScott@aol.com
Too Many Puppies--When you play it straight and get to the part
where everything gets all quiet and you hear the"ding-dinging"
and the "da-da-da-da-da" of the bass drum, Les says something
that's really quiet, but I figured out he says: "Save it for
the road", then something like "sol ba tu ga la gutter, call co la
road butter" which sounds totally insane, but that's Les for
you. I'm not totally sure I got it right though. Then, Les blows on
the mike, or that's what it sounds like. At the end, he does say "El
Sobrante Number One" for sure.

In article <1995Apr11.023925.27974@galileo.cc.rochester.edu>, js018d@uhura.cc.roches
ter.edu (Jeffrey Swing) writes:
| > ..... But can
| > anybody figure out what Les says during the "extra" verse that they add to
| > Nature Boy? Something like: "Skinny was born in a bathtub, and he grew so
| > incledibly thin....", and some thing with a "Hello Dolly record". Anybody
| > have the lyrics?
| >
| >
From: sdr4p@uvacs.cs.Virginia.EDU (Sean D. Reilly)
-Jef
|
| That sounds like part of a song by the residents called "hello skinny".
| Here are the lyrics for the Residents version, I can't imagine any other
| song having such similar lyrics.
|
|
| Skinny was born in a bathtub,
| and he grew so increidibly thin,
| that even the end of an eyedropper,
| Sucked him in.
|
| SKinny never knew any questions,
| And skinny never looked at lights,
| But skinny sold something,
| Every single night.
|
| Skinny sold a soldier to me,
| Skinny sold a wife,
| Skinny sold a suction cup
| And a knofe.
| Skinny found a "Hello Dolly"
| Record in the hall.
| He sold it to a truck driver
| In the fall.

Actually, I think he says: Skiddley dit dad dow de dee. No,
that's not a stupid post, but you know Les......Check it out and
listen to it again. I saw them live, and could have sworn that this is
what he says....
From: AIMScott@aol.com
Toys Go Winding Down--I'm quite sure that he says either Skiddily dit dow
di dee or Skilly dit dow di day.

From: achaulk@postciss.daytonoh.NCR.COM (Alex Chaulk)
You may
already know all of this but it's worth repeating in case you don't.
Les went to school near S.F. with the guitarist for Metallica (not
Hetfield, the other guy with dark hair) and learned to play upright
bass because his school concert band needed an upright player. Well,
needless to say he sucked, but the teacher was patient with him and he
learned all his scales, etc. That's why you'll hear some upright bass
work on his albums. I know Les was heavy into Rush and Geddy Lee and
Yes' Chris Squire, etc. and used to play "Roundabout" on new basses
to see how they played. He conned his mother into getting him the
sweet bass he has now (the Carl Thompson 4-string he has with the
whammy bar). He then started to listen to some of the funk bass
players (slappers and pluckers). I think he then got into a
experimental-music band (played some far out stuff) where he honed his
playing. And thus, the Les Claypool style of playing was born!
Primate was then formed, then the name-change to Primus.

After the death of original bassist Cliff Burton, Metallica auditioned many a bassist
including none other than Les Claypool himself. I imagine the main reason he was considered
( aside from his rather obvious bass skills)was the fact that he had played in local prog-metal band
Blind Ilussion. It appears he did indeed request to jam on a few Isley Brothers tunes. Obviously,
he and Metallica parted ways shortly thereafter. It would of been intersting to say the least.
According to rumor this is the reason Primus often include a bit of "Master of Puppets" in their
set.

Les has apperead in adds for Carl Thompson basses, Carl Thompson strings, and ADA Preamps.
LEr as far as I know, has yet to be tapped for his commercial appeal. Herb endorses Pork Pie Percussion
in the credits of Primus albums. He also endorses Vic Firth sticks.Herb has also appeared in
ads for Starclassic Drums( a division of Tama). Ler has apperared in and ad for Paul
Reed Smith guitars. The ad appeared in the january 96 issue of Guitar Player magazine
and includes a picture taken at the pool at Rancho Relaxo.(Les's house)

In addition to these, Primus also cover a number of songs as Bock Cock And the Yellow Sock.
As quoted from Ram's cd reviews:

Primus --- Freak Out

This is clearly a bootleg, but quite a good one. The recording is okay, but it is the content that appeals to me; it
is Primus at its mellow best. The first 5 songs are Jerry was a Racecar Driver, John the Fisherman, Groundhog's
Day, Nature Boy, and guess what, a medley comprising of Staying Alive (which I couldn't identify) by the Gibb
brothers, Don't you Want Me (credited to Callis-Oakley-Wright), Afternoon Delight by Johnny Carved, Rock
'n' Roll all Night by Kiss, and Biko by Gabriel. You think that's cool? There's more---the songs are all
performed by Bob Cock and his Yellow Socks. (But who is Bob Cock? Is he Claypool with a different voice?).
Recorded in LA, December '93.

Hardware:

The samples in "Jerry was a Race car Driver" ie,"dog will hunt" is from
Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The sample in "MY Name is Mud"(Where you going City boy" is from Deliverance. The sample in
Hamburger Train (Hey, are you the guys from the hamburger train?) is by Paul
Ruebens (Pee Wee Herman) in Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams.

Also from mantis@mail.vt.edu:

On sailing the seas.. that song Los Bastardos where there is a sample of
"you bastard" over and over and at the end "you just called me a bastard
didnt you?" well, that voice is from an episode of The Young Ones, a British
comedy show. The dude with the red tie and buttons says "you bastard" to
the 'American' type guy. And later he said the second sample to the hippie
guy.. i dont know the name of the episode but if anyone NEEDS to know it was
aired late night march 18 , 1995 on Comedy Central.

a mild corrections from: Mark Burrell (mark@adam.ac.uk)

- it is from 'the young ones', but its not Rik Mayall (playing 'Rick' -
often called 'Prick' during the show) but the punk Vivian (played by Ade
Edmondson) - in one episode he had a heavy night and woke up on Sunday
morning to the sound of loud church bells - he opened the curtains and
uttered the immortal 'shut up you bastards!'. however, it is Rik Mayall who
says near the end of the track 'did you just call me a bastard?' In my
teens, it was de-rigeur to watch 'The Young Ones' each week, they often
had a good band on, like Motorhead, or Madness, etc....

Herb says "I needed a name. I was reading this book called "Bury my Heart
At Wounded Knee. It was something I never really thought about before... I
mean how this country came to be. We are taught to be sop proud. But a lot of
what we have is based on lies and deciet. They only teach you what they want
you to know. I hope people will see the title and check it out. Next time you
listen to `Wounded Knee', try and put the story and the music together. The
rhythm and the pulse, there is an element of it that is angry then peaceful."

In 1890, at Wounded Knee Creek, the United States Calavary murdered over
200 Sioux Indian men,women , and children.

Claymation on all Primus/Sausauge albums was done by Lance "Link" Montoya.

From jrush@chaph.usc.edu

The clay Skeeter figure on the Miscellaneous Debris EP is credited
to "Snap" which is one of Les' nicknames. That's the only sculpture that Link
Montoya didn't do. Plus, Les halped on all the covers; he did the airbrushing
on them (except Suck on This).

No. Les Claypool is not a member of The Residents. He has repeatedly
stated this in interviews. As blholmes@netcom.com points out, if Les was born
in 63, he would have been about ten years old when the residents started.

From zachary@cats.ucsc.edu
If you have ever seen a map of the Bay Area (SF,Oakland,San Jose), you
know that the bay looks something like a big 8 with a little bit sticking
out to the left (that leads to the Pacific Ocean). Anyway, most of this
bay is the San Francisco Bay, however the upper circle of the 8 would be
the San Pablo Bay. A prime fishing spot, that is at least until the
waters from the delta went down SoCal way ;) It would also be the easiest
place to get to, in order to go fishing from the East Bay (Berkeley,
Oakland).

Ler: " I am confused enough with one" Guitar Player
Les: "No. I don't really want to. Maybe I'll do something with them later,
when I'm a little older. You see, I have to get to a point of
boredom- when I get bored, something new comes about." Bass Player Jan93

Note: Even though Les uses standard tuning as far as pitch goes, he
has been know to use two A strings and two G strings tuned to E-A-D-G on his
four string.